Maybe there could be an upside to doping scandals in pro racing--a customer
in a store looking for a new road bike might ask the salesperson, "Don't y
ou have anything that won't make me look like an EPO freak?"
David Feldma
n
Vancouver, WA
ansition202@hotmail.com> To: Eric Meddaugh <eric.m@rocketmail.com>; mpetr y@bainbridge.net; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 9:30:48 AM Subject: RE: [CR]NAHBS â Is it really about the bike ?
Hi, a recent look at the bicycle business tells me they have already charged down this road on carbon fiber frames, flashy je rseys, and ten sprocket rear hubs. The last few years road bike sales have taken a huge decline as new riders are totally turned off by the price, lo ok, and culture of modern road bikes. When it gets to the point where we a re going to custom frame builders for bikes that will carry a rear rack, wo n't kill our backs, and won't send us to our physical therapist after a hun dred mile ride, I'd say the business has already gone off the deep end.
Tom Harriman.
San Francisco, Ca.
> Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:31:0
8 -0800
> From: eric.m@rocketmail.com
> Subject: Re: [CR]NAHBS â
â¬â Is it really about the bike ?
> To: mpetry@bainbridge.
net; classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>
> Mark,
<rant on>
This immediately made me think of what happened w
> ith snow skiing
to recruit "the masses" or as you say "attract new riders".
> That sport
had stagnated because of the macho competition between the best
> & str
ongest recreational skiers to show off their skills to each other on
> e
ver longer (and more "exotic") boards. I don't know who but someone decide
> d to bring new blood into the sport by introducing the concept of SHOR
T SKI
> S! OMG, blasphemy when we 1st heard of the idea and then to see t
hese loser
> newbies actually on them was too much - we all snickered &
winked. But you
> know what? They WERE easier to learn on and it worked
and it was called GL
> M (graduated length method of) learning. And then
it was a victim of it's o
> wn success - too many people on the mountain
that didn't belong there: weak
> skills, no consideration, no more yodel
ing! So - is this what we all want
> for cycling? A ton of newbies swerv
ing & dodging in front of us on the edge
> of a busy
> boulevard? Isn
't it hard enough just to make it to your destination in the
> morning w
ithout getting T-boned by a car? I don't know about you all but I
> love
the fact that I'm the only one in town racing down the hill for the t
>
rain in the morning. But I do agree that with ever more frame builders taki
> ng up the torch we need to make lugged steel more attractive to the ma
sses.
> Personally, I think we are just ahead of the curve right now. As
oil reser
> ves deplete and we rediscover our own health as a priority c
ycling will bec
> ome more popular again. Low price points will help. Mar
keting does work. Mo
> re expensive hand built custom bikes will become s
tatus symbols - just as i
> n France after the war...
<rant off>
Eric Meddaugh
windy San Ca
> rlos, CA
---
----
- Original Message ----
From: "mpetry@bainbridge.
> net" <mpetry@bain
bridge.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Sent: W
> ednesday
, February 13, 2008 2:04:17 PM
Subject: [CR]NAHBS ââ¬â
Is it
> really about the bike ?
So I think it is wonderful
that there�
> �s so much innovative thi
nking and
fresh talent devoting time and atten
> tion to the craft of
the bicycle.
While there were a couple dozen old sch
> ool builders
at the show (Gordon,
Sachs, Baylis, Nobilette, to name a few
> ) the
proliferation of new names
and new designs tells me the market is r
>
ipe for new products and novel
approaches to old ones.
Or is
there ?
> And even if there is, maybe that isnââ¬â¢t
the place where are
spor
> t needs to go. Weââ¬â¢
re into vintage bikes here, but bear with me for
> a
moment.
My opinion is that the bike and the industry have so muc
> h to cont
ribute to
things like reducing congestion, good health, environm
> en
tal benefits,
dependence on foreign oil etc etc and my comment on the N
> AHBS is that,
while an interesting exercise in metal sculpture, mo
st of w
> hatââ¬â¢s on view
there has little to do
with addressing any of those
> market opportunities.
I think t
he fundamental challenge facing the b
> icycle industry is to
attrac
t more riders new to the sport, getting them
> on bikes for an
excit
ing and not too strenuous ride, so that they too �
> Ã
¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½get the bugââ¬ï¿½ and0Astart riding to work, school, or for fun.
>
Unfortunately the
industry in general seems to be focused on the ques
> t for
ever lig
hter carbon fiber components with a ââ¬Åracing uber al
>
lesââ¬ï¿½ approach,
and (along with the stuff on vie
w at NAHBS) contin
> uing along this path
will in my view just make t
he industry more irreleva
> nt to the needs of the
marketplace. A
$7000 city bike with laser-cut
> dropouts is an exercise
in metal s
culpture ââ¬â it is not the thing
> that will bring
new riders and
customers into the sport.
Mark P
> etry
Bainbridge Island, Wa US of A
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